Charles Johnson

Charles Richard Johnson (born April 23, 1948, Evanston, Illinois) is an American professor emeritus of English at the University of Washington, renowned for his philosophical novels and short stories exploring African American experiences, infused with Buddhist and Eastern thought. His breakthrough novel Middle Passage (1990) won the National Book Award for Fiction, making him the second African American man to receive it after Ralph Ellison, and he later earned a MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship in 1998, among other honors including Guggenheim and NEA fellowships. Notable works also include Oxherding Tale (1982), Dreamer (1998), and story collections like The Sorcerer's Apprentice (1986, PEN/Faulkner finalist).Charles R. Johnson